Changes take place at area school districts in preparation for first day of school

ALEX WUKMAN

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, July 31, 2008

Even though the heat and humidity make being outside during the day difficult, for thousands of area children summer is almost over. August 25, the first day of school, is fast approaching and throughout the last few months local school districts have made many changes.

The biggest change came from Cleveland ISD. The CISD board voted earlier this year to radically altered their school day. Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade students will now go to school from 7:30 a.m. until approximately 3 p.m. and sixth through twelfth graders will go from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This shift has many parents concerned because they feel it sends their younger children home without the supervision of an older sibling. Cleveland ISD superintendent Kerry Cowart understands the concern.

“We didn’t think that putting kindergarteners and seniors on the same bus was a good idea either,” Cowart said. Cowart explained that previously when the students were being released district wide at 3:15 p.m. and the buses would go to each campus before starting on the route it was creating severe logistical problems.

“We had a tough time getting students to and from school and home in a timely manner,” said Cowart. Cowart also said that the time students were waiting at the schools for the buses was a concern for the district. “Last year we had students getting out at 3:15 and waiting around until 4:30 when the bus would pick them up.”

Approximately 50 percent of CISD students are bus riders and due to the rural nature of the Cleveland area bus drivers cover large distances on their routes. This meant that some of the students who rode the bus last year arrived home as late as 7 p.m. after catching the bus to school at 6 a.m.

The new bus schedule, which is described as a two tier schedule, is not as cost effective as the previous schedule. “We’re doing the route twice so we aren’t saving any money,” said Cowart.

However academically speaking the later start times for middle and high school students might prove beneficial. “All the studies we read showed that the best learning time for adolescents is later,” said Cowart. He went on to say that the “Studies show that high school shouldn’t start before 8:30 a.m.”

Parents also expressed concern about how the new late release will effect football practices. “After we get off daylight savings it starts to get dark around 5:30 and we have our last week of football then,” said Cowart.

One of the solutions that the district arrived at was to turn the last period of the day into an athletic period for students involved in athletics. “For everybody else it’ll be an academic period,” Cowart said.

Another change that CISD is going through is they’ve added a police department. The district hired Antonio Ford a former Sergeant and 20 year veteran of the Houston Metro Police to be CISD PD’s new chief.

“He starts August 11 and he’ll be at the high school,” Cowart said. Additionally the district is in the process of hiring another officer who will work at the middle school.

In addition to CISD other local school districts have retooled for the upcoming year. In May the COCISD board voted to extend their school day by half-an-hour.

The main reason for the extension was to allow for in-school tutorials. COCISD’s after school tutoring was sparsely attended and required five bus routes to get the students home.

The half-an-hour extension is expected to save the district $40,000 in transportation costs. When COCISD voted to extend the school day Shepherd ISD voted to raise the lunch prices.

Effective this fall student lunches will now cost $1.75 and adult lunches will cost $2.75. The price of student breakfasts will remain $1.00 however adult breakfasts have gone up to $1.50.

Tarkington ISD also had to raise the prices of their student lunches. In July the Tarkington ISD board voted to raise the price of their student lunches by $0.25.

The lunch price increase is due to rising food costs. Tarkington is keeping their student and adult breakfast as well as the adult lunch prices the same.